CHAPTER 1.

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AND OF OURSELVES MUTUALLY CONNECTED. óNATURE OF THE
CONNECTION.

Sections.

1. The sum of true wisdomóviz. the knowledge of God and of ourselves.
Effects of the latter.

2. Effects of the knowledge of God, in humbling our pride, unveiling our
hypocrisy, demonstrating the absolute perfections of God, and our own utter
helplessness.

3. Effects of the knowledge of God illustrated by the examples, 1. of holy
patriarchs; 2. of holy angels; 3. of the sun and moon.

1. OUR wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom,
consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.
But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine
which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other. For, in the first
place, no man can survey himself without forthwith turning his thoughts towards
the God in whom he lives and moves; because it is perfectly obvious, that the
endowments which we possess cannot possibly be from ourselves; nay, that our
very being is nothing else than subsistence in God alone. In the second place,
those blessings which unceasingly distil to us from heaven, are like streams
conducting us to the fountain. Here, again, the infinitude of good which
resides in God becomes more apparent from our poverty. In particular, the
miserable ruin into which the revolt of the first man has plunged us, compels
us to turn our eyes upwards; not only that while hungry and famishing we may
thence ask what we want, but being aroused by fear may learn humility. For as
there exists in man something like a world of misery, and ever since we were
stript of the divine attire our naked shame discloses an immense series of
disgraceful properties every man, being stung by the consciousness of his own
unhappiness, in this way necessarily obtains at least some knowledge of God.
Thus, our feeling of ignorance, vanity, want, weakness, in short, depravity and
corruption, reminds us (see Calvin on John 4:10), that in the Lord, and none
but He, dwell the true light of wisdom, solid virtue, exuberant goodness. We
are accordingly urged by our own evil things to consider the good things of
God; and, indeed, we cannot aspire to Him in earnest until we have begun to be
displeased with ourselves. For what man is not disposed to rest in himself?
Who, in fact, does not thus rest, so long as he is unknown to himself; that is,
so long as he is contented with his own endowments, and unconscious or
unmindful of his misery? Every person, therefore, on coming to the knowledge of
himself, is not only urged to seek God, but is also led as by the hand to find
him.

2. On the other hand, it is evident that man never attains to a true
self-knowledge until he have previously contemplated the face of God, and come
down after such contemplation to look into himself. For (such is our innate
pride) we always seem to ourselves just, and upright, and wise, and holy, until
we are convinced, by clear evidence, of our injustice, vileness, folly, and
impurity. Convinced, however, we are not, if we look to ourselves only, and not
to the Lord alsoóHe being the only standard by the
application of which this conviction can be produced. For, since we are all
naturally prone to hypocrisy, any empty semblance of righteousness is quite
enough to satisfy us instead of righteousness itself. And since nothing appears
within us or around us that is not tainted with very great impurity, so long as
we keep our mind within the confines of human pollution, anything which is in
some small degree less defiled delights us as if it were most pure just as an
eye, to which nothing but black had been previously presented, deems an object
of a whitish, or even of a brownish hue, to be perfectly white. Nay, the bodily
sense may furnish a still stronger illustration of the extent to which we are
deluded in estimating the powers of the mind. If, at mid-day, we either look
down to the ground, or on the surrounding objects which lie open to our view,
we think ourselves endued with a very strong and piercing eyesight; but when we
look up to the sun, and gaze at it unveiled, the sight which did excellently
well for the earth is instantly so dazzled and confounded by the refulgence, as
to oblige us to confess that our acuteness in discerning terrestrial objects is
mere dimness when applied to the sun. Thus too, it happens in estimating our
spiritual qualities. So long as we do not look beyond the earth, we are quite
pleased with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue; we address ourselves in
the most flattering terms, and seem only less than demigods. But should we once
begin to raise our thoughts to God, and reflect what kind of Being he is, and
how absolute the perfection of that righteousness, and wisdom, and virtue, to
which, as a standard, we are bound to be conformed, what formerly delighted us
by its false show of righteousness will become polluted with the greatest
iniquity; what strangely imposed upon us under the name of wisdom will disgust
by its extreme folly; and what presented the appearance of virtuous energy will
be condemned as the most miserable impotence. So far are those qualities in us,
which seem most perfect, from corresponding to the divine purity.

3. Hence that dread and amazement with which as Scripture uniformly relates,
holy men were struck and overwhelmed whenever they beheld the presence of God.
When we see those who previously stood firm and secure so quaking with terror,
that the fear of death takes hold of them, nay, they are, in a manner,
swallowed up and annihilated, the inference to be drawn is that men are never
duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until
they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God. Frequent examples of
this consternation occur both in the Book of Judges and the Prophetical
Writings;53 so much so, that it was a common expression among the
people of God, ìWe shall die, for we have seen the Lord.î Hence
the Book of Job, also, in humbling men under a conviction of their folly,
feebleness, and pollution, always derives its chief argument from descriptions
of the Divine wisdom, virtue, and purity. Nor without cause: for we see Abraham
the readier to acknowledge himself but dust and ashes the nearer he approaches
to behold the glory of the Lord, and Elijah unable to wait with unveiled face
for His approach; so dreadful is the sight. And what can man do, man who is but
rottenness and a worm, when even the Cherubim themselves must veil their faces
in very terror? To this, undoubtedly, the Prophet Isaiah refers, when he says
(Isaiah 24:23), ìThe moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when
the Lord of Hosts shall reign;î i.e., when he shall exhibit his
refulgence, and give a nearer view of it, the brightest objects will, in
comparison, be covered with darkness.

But though the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves are bound
together by a mutual tie, due arrangement requires that we treat of the former
in the first place, and then descend to the latter.